When you’re in charge of transporting cranes to install the world’s largest cable-supported, retractable roof on Vancouver’s landmark stadium, all eyes are on you.

That was certainly the case when the Langley, British Columbia-based heavy-haul carrier, Triton Transport Ltd., moved cranes, supplies and equipment to BC Place stadium.

“We were contracted to move a large number of specialized cranes, including one of the world’s largest and most powerful ones, and drive them through a single entrance at BC Place,” said Murray Scadeng, president of Triton Transport. “And we moved the primary crane, which was one of the biggest lifts in B.C. history.”

The primary crawler crane, which can lift 1,100 tons, took Triton Transport 75 trailer loads to move into the stadium and was used for the first three months of construction to assemble the 36 steel masts that support the new retractable roof. The company used several Kenworth T800s equipped with 550 hp Cummins ISX engines and 18-speed manual Eaton transmissions to move the cranes and equipment. It also used a tridem-drive, wide-hood Kenworth T800 equipped with 600-hp Cummins ISX engine, 18-speed manual Eaton transmission and 4-speed auxiliary transmission.
“When it came time to move the cranes, we needed trucks we could rely on and our Kenworth trucks met those needs,” Scadeng said. “We really couldn’t afford to have anything go wrong with any of the moves because dozens of contractors with hundreds of employees were waiting for us to complete them so that they could bring in their equipment and supplies and get to work. Inland Kenworth, our local dealer, also made sure the trucks were in tip-top shape.”

The tight turning radius and excellent visibility on the Kenworth T800s were particularly welcome when drivers navigated around the support columns of the Georgia Viaduct to get into the east entrance of the stadium, added Scadeng. The Kenworth T800, which celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this year, has been the standard choice among vocational users like Triton Transport because of its visibility and maneuverability.

Constant improvements over the last 25 years by Kenworth, such as the Kenworth Extended Day Cab and the large cooling package for heavy haulers, which Triton has on some of its T800s, have improved the model’s cost of ownership and resale values, further contributing to the model’s popularity.

The addition of the new $563 million retractable roof for the 54,500-seat stadium, which was featured prominently during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games last year, started in April 2010 with the deflation of the stadium’s old giant inflatable roof. Construction is expected to be completed in September 2011, with the scheduled opening on Sept. 30 when the B.C. Lions take on the Edmonton Eskimos in Canadian Football League action.

BC Place’s new cable-supported retractable roof incorporates more than 35 kilometers of steel cable, 16,000 metric tons of steel, and 76,000 square meters of fabric, and involves the installation of 36 masts, each measuring 50 meters in length and weighing 110 metric tons. Each pair of masts at opposite sides are connected by two 90-millimeter diameter cables and two 70-millimeter diameter cables. Strung together, the masts look like 18 independent suspension bridges resembling the form of a ring. From one end to the other, the roof masts span more than 200 meters.

Triton’s carefully planned moves for the BC Place stadium project required coordinating with the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, the City of Vancouver engineering department, and Vancouver city police to shut down traffic. The moves were completed late at night, before the morning rush hour began, so that traffic disruptions could be kept to a minimum. Delays would have caused tremendous traffic delays in an already crowded downtown.

“When you’re moving big pieces of equipment even a short distance, you have to have trucks that you know can handle the load,” Scadeng said. “Kenworth trucks are built to handle the kinds of loads we have to move.”

That’s why Triton Transport chooses Kenworth trucks to get the job done. Of the 45 trucks the heavy haul carrier operates in its British Columbia division based in Langley and in its Alberta division based in Edmonton, most of them are Kenworths. Triton Transport, which was founded in 1986 by Scadeng and his business partner, Joe Bragg, hauls oversize mining, construction and factory equipment in the construction, mining, oil and gas, and timber harvesting industries. The company generally uses the tridem-drive, wide-hood Kenworth T800s for heavier loads traveling longer distances. Those Kenworth T800s also feature the larger and wider 1,780 square-foot radiator for added cooling.

“Since Kenworth is top of the line, we’ve also found that our Kenworth trucks not only get excellent resale values, but they also help us retain our good drivers because they really like driving them,” Scadeng added. “Hauling heavy loads, particularly for long distances or in tight urban areas, really require very skilled drivers. So, you want to be able to recruit and retain the best ones. Having properly spec’d equipment that drivers enjoy driving is key to accomplishing that.”